Prime Minister

Syria: Military Intervention

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Prime Minister, whether any person or body has sought disclosure of his Department's legal advice on the drone strike that killed Reyaad Khan for purposes related to the Inquiry by the Intelligence and Security Committee into that matter.

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Prime Minister, whether he plans to issue a new Memorandum of Understanding under section 2(2) of the Justice and Security Act on the remit of the Intelligence and Security Committee in the current Parliament.

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Prime Minister, if he will disclose a summary of the government advice on the legality of the drone strike that killed Reyaad Khan in the manner set out in Part 6 of the Cabinet Manual.

Mr David Cameron: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Ms West) on 21 January 2016, UIN 22720.By long-standing convention under successive Governments the Law Officers’ advice is not published. The legal basis for the airstrike against Reyaad Khan is set out in the Government’s Memorandum to the Joint Committee on Human Rights.The Government’s legal position in relation to UK airstrikes against Daesh in Syria is reflected in my response to the Foreign Affairs Committee Report on the extension of offensive British military operations to Syria.The current Memorandum of Understanding together with the Justice and Security Act 2013 provides the necessary scope for the ISC to conduct robust oversight of those matters that are within its statutory remit.

Department for Work and Pensions

Carer's Premium: Pension Credit

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of how many people have received a lower pension credit entitlement as a result of receipt of the carer premium in each of the last three years.

Justin Tomlinson: The award of the additional amount for caring in Pension Credit (currently £34.60 weekly) does not, in itself, reduce Pension Credit entitlement as it is an additional sum added to the customer’s appropriate amount. Estimates of numbers qualifying for the additional amount in May 2014 were published last year:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/pension-credit-additional-amounts-and-assessed-income-periods-may-2014However, in order to qualify for the additional amount for caring the customer must be entitled to Carer’s Allowance. If Carer’s Allowance is in payment then it is taken into account as income and the person being cared for does not qualify for the additional amount for severe disability in Pension Credit. We do not have any estimates of the impact on Pension Credit where Carer’s Allowance is in payment.

Employment: Disability

Steven Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, to which countries of the UK his Department's target to halve the disability employment gap during the current Parliament applies.

Justin Tomlinson: Employment is a reserved matter. Progress towards halving the disability employment gap is a key part of our aim to achieve full employment across the whole of the UK. This is consistent with the Government’s manifesto commitment which said ‘as part of our objective to achieve full employment, we will aim to halve the disability employment gap’.

Ports: Industrial Health and Safety

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have been (a) killed and (b) injured working in ports in each of the last five years.

Justin Tomlinson: Table 1 attached contains data on the number of people who have been reported under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) as (a) killed and (b) injured working in the ports and docks industry in each of the last five years. Please note the caveats included within the table.The main Standard Industry Classification (SIC) codes used to define the ports and docks industry fall under the general category for the transport industry, of which there are many sub-categories. Considerable overlap exists between codes relating to transport, and codes relating to warehousing and cargo handling, as many organisations are involved in both types of work but can only be attributed to one SIC code. Therefore it is possible that other accidents relating to the ports and docks industry have been classified under different SIC codes; this should be taken into consideration when interpreting the data. A comprehensive text search of all RIDDOR notifications for reference to incidents occurring in ports or docks could not be done without incurring disproportionate cost, and moreover would not be statistically rigorous.



Table 1 - Reported injuries to Workers 
(Excel SpreadSheet, 15.24 KB)

Mesothelioma: Compensation

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons a levy of at least three per cent of gross working premium on insurers to fund the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payments Scheme has not yet been introduced.

Justin Tomlinson: The Mesothelioma Act (2014) requires active insurers to pay a levy with a view to meeting the costs of the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme (DMPS) each year.The 3% figure was the maximum percentage of the active employers’ liability insurance market to be levied on the insurance industry to recoup the costs of the scheme in any one year. This figure is a cap rather than a set rate. Each year the levy rate is calculated using the costs of the DMPS so far in that financial year, extrapolated to cover the remainder of the period. As this is a demand led scheme, the calculations for the levy are done afresh each year. An upturn in applications to the Scheme would result in a higher levy rate in future years.

Pension Protection Fund

James Cartlidge: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will introduce legislative proposals to amend the provisions of the Pensions Act 2014 relating to the Pension Protection Fund capping to provide assistance to scheme members whose employers have entered into administration; and if he will make a statement.

Justin Tomlinson: The Government is committed to the implementation of the Pension Protection Fund long service cap as described in the Pensions Act 2014.Before the primary legislation can be brought into force, a number of changes need to be made to secondary legislation, so that it will operate as expected in all cases. Therefore we cannot, at this time, commit to a particular implementation date.

Work Capability Assessment

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many completed repeat work capability assessments there have been of people with (a) cystic fibrosis, (b) rheumatoid arthritis, (c) motor neurone disease, (d) multiple sclerosis and (e) Parkinson's disease in each year since the introduction of employment and support allowance in 2008.

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many completed repeat assessments there have been of people with Parkinson's disease by year of repeat assessment, since the introduction of employment and support allowance in 2008.

Priti Patel: The information available is shown in the table below. Repeat assessments are conducted to ensure that individuals receive the right level of support.  Calendar years:Cystic FibrosisSpinal Muscular AtrophyParkinson’s DiseaseMultiple SclerosisOther Rheumatoid ArthritisOct-08 to Dec-08-----Jan-09 to Dec-09-----Jan-10 to Dec-10--100700600Jan-11 to Dec-111001003001,5001,500Jan-12 to Dec-122001005002,9002,500Jan-13 to Dec-131001004002,4002,500Jan-14 to Dec-14100-3001,9002,100Jan-15 to June-15---300300

Pensioners: Income

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the average change in income for an individual as of the result of the delay in qualifying for pension credit resulting from the introduction of the revised state pension age timetable in the Pensions Act 2011.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Pension Credit: Age

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate he has made of the cost of reinstating the qualifying age for pension credit to its 1995 timetable.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for Work and Pensions: Written Questions

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2016 to Question 22645, what estimate he has made of the potential cost of answering that question for each of the resources that would be so required.

Justin Tomlinson: We estimate that it would require a departmental analyst to spend 4.5 working days to research, collate and analyse the data and around 0.5 further days of oversight and checking of methodology from a senior analyst. This would result in a total cost of around £1,500, which is significantly in excess of the limit for disproportionate costs.

Personal Independence Payment: Cancer

Jo Churchill: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with cancer who were awarded the daily living component of personal independence payment scored all of their points due to aid and appliances.

Justin Tomlinson: For cancer, the number of individuals awarded the Daily Living component of PIP who scored all of their points due to aids and appliances is 2,630.This data relates to the period April 2013 to 30th September 2015, and includes Normal Rules awards only.DWP are currently running a consultation to seek views on how support can best be provided to help meet the costs of disability which are faced by people who are currently awarded points due to aids and appliances. The department is keen to hear views from all interested parties, especially disabled people and disability organisations.

Motability: Personal Independence Payment

Ian C. Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many motability vehicles were held by people in (a) Wrexham, (b) Wales and (c) the UK in receipt of the enhanced mobility component of personal independence payments in each of the last six months for which records are available.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department does not hold this information. Motability is an independent charitable organisation that is wholly responsible for the administration of the Motability scheme. Whilst the Department meets regularly with Motability to discuss scheme performance, questions relating to the details of the scheme’s operation should be directed to Motability itself.

Employment: Visual Impairment

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to assist people with restricted visibility pursuing careers and training opportunities.

Justin Tomlinson: The government has a wide variety of measures to help visually impaired and other disabled people prepare for, enter and remain in employment. These include:Work Choice and Specialist Employability Support (SES), which help to prepare participants for work and move them into employment;New Enterprise Allowance (NEA), which offers support to unemployed people who wish to start their own businesses. Disabled jobseekers who are accepted onto the NEA scheme may also be entitled to receive an Access to Work grant; and,Access to Work, which provides practical and financial support with the additional costs faced by individuals whose health or disability affects the way they do their job, including some costs associated with new employment opportunities and supported internships. Access to Work has recently set up a specialist team visual impairment to further improve the service offered to the visually impaired people, who comprise the second largest group of Access to Work users.

Personal Independence Payment: Visual Impairment

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will take into account the effect on blind and partially sighted people when deciding whether to change eligibility for recipients of the personal independence payment daily living component who qualify because of their use of aids and appliances.

Justin Tomlinson: DWP are currently running a consultation to seek views on how support can best be provided to help meet the costs of disability faced by people who are currently awarded points due to aids and appliances. The Department is keen to hear views from all interested parties, including blind and partially-sighted people and their representative organisations.No decision has been made as to whether any change should be made to the current system and the government does not have any preference between the 5 options presented in the consultation. However, in reaching any decision the Department will consider the effects on people with disabilities, including those who are blind or partially-sighted.

Cold Weather Payments

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2016 to Question 22115, whether information on the number and value of cold weather payments is kept by local authority area; what data his Department keeps on cold weather payments; and what steps his Department has taken to keep Parliament updated about cold weather payments.

Justin Tomlinson: Data relating to Cold Weather Payments is not recorded or stored by local authority area. Each UK postcode is linked to a weather station, so local authority areas could be split between 2 or more weather stations. The data is recorded and stored based on the weather stations and their linked postcodes.My department publishes weekly estimates of the number of CWP payments made and estimated expenditure, these figures can be found here: (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/cold-weather-payment-statistics-2015-to-2016).Full details of the number of triggers, the number of payments and the expenditure for every weather station for the whole Cold Weather Payment season is published annually in The Social Fund Annual Report.

Work Capability Assessment: Parkinson's Disease

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with Parkinson's disease have had at least one repeat assessment, by year of initial assessment, since the introduction of employment and support allowance in 2008.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with (a) cystic fibrosis, (b) rheumatoid arthritis, (c) motor neurone disease, (d) multiple sclerosis and (e) Parkinson's disease have had at least one repeat work capability assessment by year of initial assessment since the introduction of employment support allowance in 2008.

Priti Patel: The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.

Personal Independence Payment: Motor Neurone Disease

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with motor neurone disease who have been awarded the daily living component of personal independence payment scored all of their points due to aid and appliances

Justin Tomlinson: For Motor Neurone Disease, the number of individuals awarded the Daily Living component of PIP who scored all of their points due to aids and appliances is 50.This data relates to the period April 2013 to 30th September 2015, and includes Normal Rules awards only.DWP are currently running a consultation to seek views on how support can best be provided to help meet the costs of disability which are faced by people who are currently awarded points due to aids and appliances. The department is keen to hear views from all interested parties, especially disabled people and disability organisations.

Employment and Support Allowance: Parkinson's Disease

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with Parkinson's disease have been placed in (a) the support group and (b) the work-related activity group with a prognosis statement of (i) three, (ii) six, (iii) 12, (iv) 18 months, (v) two years and (vi) in the longer term since the introduction of employment and support allowance in 2008.

Priti Patel: The information requested is shown in the table below. We know that despite the condition that they have, many people with Parkinson’s disease want to work – the crucial thing is to make sure they are getting the right support. AssessmentPrognosisTotal3 Months6 Months12 Months18 Months2 YearsIn the longer termInitial assessmentsSG1,700--2001003001,000WRAG700100100200-100100Repeat assessmentsSG1,100--100100200800WRAG500--100100100200IB reassessmentsSG1,300----2001,000WRAG300----100100

Home Office

Terrorism: Sportsgrounds

Mr George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the terrorism threat level for events at major sports stadiums.

Mr John Hayes: Holding answer received on 18 January 2016



The threat level for international terrorism for the UK is set independently by the Joint Terrorism Assessment Centre (JTAC) and is currently at SEVERE, meaning that an attack is highly likely. It would however, not be appropriate to comment on threat assessments for specific locations.The Government and police advice to the public is to be alert, but not alarmed by the terrorist threat. The UK’s counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST, works to improve protective security and preparedness at a range of crowded places sites, including sports stadia, by ensuring businesses have access to high quality protective security advice. This includes advice provided to sports grounds by police specialist Counter Terrorism Security Advisors (CTSAs), and through the National Counter Terrorism Security Office which has provided information about the current threat and guidance on key actions to take to the Sports Ground Safety Association and its partners.The police regularly review their arrangements at major sporting events to ensure a proportionate response is in place at events, which may include an increase in highly visible officers.

Knives: Sales

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the risks posed by the legal sale of zombie knives in the UK.

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner's letter to her of 13 January 2016 on the introduction of a ban on the sale of zombie knives.

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will ban the sale of zombie knives in the UK.

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will discuss with the retailer Amazon banning the sale of zombie knives in the UK.

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to prevent children from purchasing knives and other weapons online.

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will meet with the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner to discuss banning the sale of zombie knives.

Karen Bradley: The Government continues to work with the police and partners to ensure we reduce violence and knife crime, and in the year ending June 2015, knife crime recorded by the police was 17% lower than 2010. We are aware of concerns about zombie knives and we are currently considering representations including the letter of 13 January from the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for the West Midlands and on 21 January from the prospective mayoral candidate for London Zac Goldsmith. A reply will be sent shortly and we will offer to meet with the PCC.We are currently considering what action to take against the prevalence of zombie knives on our streets. We are talking to retailers, including Amazon, about the action they can take. There are strict laws on the sale of knives to under 18s and on how knives can be marketed. We are concerned about any knives being carried in public especially if used to threaten and inflict violence. It is a criminal offence to possess a knife in public without good reason, and if a person is convicted a second time they now face a minimum mandatory custodial sentence following the introduction of this change by the Government in July 2015.

Police: West Midlands

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had on increasing the number of armed response (a) officers and (b) vehicles in the West Mercia police force area.

Mike Penning: It is for Chief Officers in conjunction with Police and Crime Commissioners to determine the number of armed response officers and vehicles in their areas based on a thorough assessment of threat and risk. As announced in the Police Grant Report for England and Wales Written Ministerial Statement on 17 December 2015, this Government will provide £34 million in 2016-17 to enable a national uplift in armed policing capability and capacity to respond more quickly and effectively to a firearms attack. Decisions over where this money will be distributed are yet to be made, however for reasons of national security we do not publically disclose the detailed allocation of funding for counter terrorism by force area or by capability.

Asylum: Applications

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people who have applied for asylum in the UK have failed criminal background checks or have been found to have links with extremist organisations since January 2015.

James Brokenshire: All asylum claims are the subject of rigorous checks to confirm identity, ensure security and minimise abuse of the system. To fully answer this question would require a physical check of every electronic case record and therefore to provide a complete answer would incur a disproportionate cost.

Knives: Sales

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with (a) the police and (b) retailers on the sale of zombie knives in the UK.

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of whether the purposes for which zombie knives are sold online are legitimate.

Karen Bradley: The Government continues to work with the police and partners to ensure we reduce violence and knife crime, and in the year ending June 2015, knife crime recorded by the police was 17% lower than 2010. We are aware of concerns about zombie knives and we are currently considering representations including the letter of 13 January from the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for the West Midlands and on 21 January from the prospective mayoral candidate for London Zac Goldsmith. A reply will be sent shortly and we will offer to meet with the PCC.We are currently considering what action to take against the prevalence of zombie knives on our streets. We are talking to retailers, including Amazon, about the action they can take. There are strict laws on the sale of knives to under 18s and on how knives can be marketed. We are concerned about any knives being carried in public especially if used to threaten and inflict violence. It is a criminal offence to possess a knife in public without good reason, and if a person is convicted a second time they now face a minimum mandatory custodial sentence following the introduction of this change by the Government in July 2015.

Asylum: Syria

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many refugees from the Syrian conflict resettled in the UK to date have been relocated from (a) refugee camps in Turkey, (b) refugee camps in Jordan, (c) refugee camps in Lebanon, (d) refugee camps in Syria, (e) other refugee camps and (f) a site that is not a refugee camp.

Richard Harrington: Holding answer received on 22 January 2016



The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) identifies and proposes refugees for resettlement under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement scheme from among the whole of the registered refugee population in the region. This includes people in formal refugee camps, informal settlements and host communities.The Home Office is committed to publishing data as part of the regular quarterly Immigration Statistics, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. The next set of figures will be in the quarterly release on 25 February 2016 and will cover the period October-December 2015. This information will not include details of where refugees have been resettled from.

Visas: Appeals

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many settlement visas granted on appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum) have been issued by UK Visas and Immigration (a) within one month, (b) between one to three months, (c) between three to six months, (d) between six to 12 months and (e) more than 12 months after that tribunal's judgement in each of the last three years.

James Brokenshire: The information is not readily available or held centrally and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Drugs: Misuse

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has taken steps to liaise with police and crime commissioners and local authorities on the proposed ban on novel psychoactive substances.

Karen Bradley: On 17 September 2015, the Minister for Policing, Crime, Criminal Justice and Victims wrote to all chief constables, copied to police and crime commissioners, to inform them of the Psychoactive Substances Bill and to invite them to operational workshops for enforcement partners taking place in February. The Local Government Association, Trading Standards and other law enforcement partners have been engaged through the cross government implementation working group as well as the police psychoactive substances enforcement working group over the last few months in preparation for the commencement of the Bill.

Foreign Nationals: Children

Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department has produced to assist police forces in apprehending foreign-born minors and their transfer into the care of local authorities; and if she will make a statement.

Karen Bradley: Holding answer received on 22 January 2016



Guidance to the police on the identification and support of unaccompanied minors from overseas currently exists in two complementary guidance documents, both produced by the then Association of Chief Police Officers and currently supported by the National Policing Lead and the College of Policing: Guidance on the Management, Recording and Investigation of Missing Persons (2010) and Interim Guidance on the Management, Recording and Investigation of Missing Persons (2013). Advice to practitioners, including the police, is also contained within two pieces of statutory guidance from the Department for Education: Care of unaccompanied and trafficked children (2014) and Safeguarding Children who may have been trafficked (2011).The College of Policing ran a public consultation in 2015 on revisions to the Authorised Professional Practice (APP) guidance to the police on the handling of missing persons investigations. This is currently being developed following consultation. The APP is expected to contain reference to unaccompanied foreign children, highlighting their vulnerabilities and the potential danger of exploitation, and re-affirm the need to investigate these cases effectively, considering the risks to the child, particularly from adults who may purport to be relatives.

Domestic Violence: Homicide

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the number of women murdered as a result of domestic violence.

Karen Bradley: Tackling domestic violence is a key priority for this Government. We put Domestic Homicide Reviews on a statutory footing in 2011 so that local areas and agencies identify lessons learned to help to prevent future homicides and violence. We have commenced a new domestic abuse offence to tackle controlling and coercive behaviour, and have rolled out Domestic Violence Protection Orders and the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme across the country. We have already committed £40 million between 2016 and 2020 to support domestic abuse victims, and provided £2 million to Safelives and Women’s Aid to support early intervention. We will shortly publish a refreshed cross-Government Violence Against Women and Girls strategy setting out how we will do more still to secure long-term funding for domestic violence services and support for all victims.

Visas

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2016 to Question 21728, how many applications for a Tier 2 (General) restricted Certificate of Sponsorship have been rejected on the grounds that the job is in an establishment which provides a take-away service in each of the last five years.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Prosecutions

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of people who were interviewed under caution (a) for all offences and (b) for sexual offences were subsequently charged in each of the last three years.

Mike Penning: Holding answer received on 25 January 2016



The Home Office does not hold the data requested.The Home Office collects data from police forces on the number of offences that resulted in a charge but does not collect data on the number of interviews held under caution.

Asylum: Deportation

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 5 January 2016 to Question 20287, when she plans to give a substantive answer to that question.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Police: Emergency Calls

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department provides to police forces on how to deal with a situation in which an emergency 999 call is erroneously directed to the wrong police force; and what procedures police forces have put in place to deal with such a situation.

Mike Penning: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Police: Emergency Calls

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether (a) Ministers and (b) officials in her Department have met (i) mobile telephone operators and (ii) BT to discuss the transfer of emergency calls made from mobile telephones to the wrong police force.

Mike Penning: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Police: Emergency Calls

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that people using mobile telephones to call 999 are put in touch with the correct police force; and if she will make a statement.

Mike Penning: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Police: Emergency Calls

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department has issued to police forces on their emergency response to incidents reporting breaking and entering, burglary and vandalism to vehicles, and other criminal activity when the criminal act is reported as being in progress.

Mike Penning: Holding answer received on 25 January 2016



We are clear that all crimes reported to the police should be taken seriously, but it is an operational decision for the police to decide how best to respond to an individual report of crime including where a criminal act may be in progress.While we do expect the nature of the police response to take account of the relevant circumstances, including any vulnerabilities or aggravating factors such as where members of the public may be at risk of harm, the Home Office does not issue guidance to the police on such operational matters.These are the responsibility of Chief Constables, in association with Police and Crime Commissioners, and guidance may be published by the independent College of Policing.

Asylum

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2016 to Questions 22594 and 22595, whether it is her Department's policy that an applicant for international protection who enters the UK from France clandestinely but had not made an application for international protection in France should be returned to France in accordance with the Dublin Regulation.

James Brokenshire: In order for the Dublin Regulation to apply an application for international protection must be lodged in one of the participating States.A person who has arrived in the UK clandestinely from France who then claims asylum in the UK can be returned to France under the terms of the Dublin Regulation even if they have not claimed asylum in France as long as the criteria in the Regulation demonstrate that France is the responsible state. For example, asylum seekers can be returned if they have close family members in France, a visa or residence permit has been issued to them by the French authorities or if they have been in France illegally for a period of 5 months or more.

Undocumented Migrants

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of illegal immigrants in residence in each constituent region and nation of the UK in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Homicide: Convictions

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the change was in the number of people convicted of murder between 2010 and 2015.

Mike Penning: Holding answer received on 25 January 2016



The available information on the number of convictions for homicide offences in England and Wales is given in the table and is taken from the Home Office Homicide Index.Table 1: Offenders convicted of homicide1,2,3, 2010/11 to 2013/14England and WalesOutcome42010/112011/122012/132013/14NumbersConvicted of homicide:Murder259236243194Sec. 2 manslaughter26262516Other manslaughter1339811093Infanticide2113Total convicted of homicide420361379306Number of homicide cases completed at court 53573263262391. Source: Homicide Index, Home Office 2. Homicide Index data are not designated as National Statistics3. As at 5 November 2014; figures are subject to revision as cases are dealt with by the police and the courts, or as further information becomes available.4. Includes offenders whose court proceedings were completed by 5 November 2014.5. These figures are based on number of homicide cases concluded at court (e.g. the number of victims in currently recorded homicides), rather than the number of suspects who have been to court.Data are based on the number of offenders whose court proceedings have been completed. Due to the time it can take for cases to pass through the criminal justice system, more recent years will contain a greater number of homicides that remain under investigation and therefore fewer convictions in those years. Updated figures for the number of people convicted of homicide in previous years, along with new figures for 2014/15 will be published by the Office for National Statistics in their Focus on Violence publication on 11 February 2016.

Department of Health

General Practitioners: Northamptonshire

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many practising GPs there were in Northamptonshire in (a) 2005, (b) 2010 and (c) 2015.

Alistair Burt: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 05 January 2016.The correct answer should have been:

Data is not available in the format requested. 2014 is the most recent year for which data is available. The attached tables show the number of practising general practitioners (GPs), both including and excluding retainers and registrars, in Northamptonshire in 2005, 2010 and 2014.



GPs numbers Northamptonshire
(Word Document, 28.86 KB)

Alistair Burt: Data is not available in the format requested. 2014 is the most recent year for which data is available. The attached tables show the number of practising general practitioners (GPs), both including and excluding retainers and registrars, in Northamptonshire in 2005, 2010 and 2014.



GPs numbers Northamptonshire
(Word Document, 28.86 KB)

Hepatitis

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to paragraph 6.32 of his Department's publication, Living Well for Longer: One year on, published in March 2015, what assessment he has made of the effect of the time taken to publish the hepatitis improvement framework on (a) members of the South Asian population and (b) other people in England with hepatitis C.

Jane Ellison: No such assessment has been made.

Mental Illness: Assistance Dogs

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had on training and registering support dogs for people with mental health problems.

Alistair Burt: The Department has not had any discussions with assistance dog organisations on the training and registration of support dogs for people with mental health problems.

Heart Diseases

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what timetable has been set for the introduction of NHS England's new National Clinical Director for Cardiac Services after April 2016.

George Freeman: NHS England expect the National Clinical Director for Cardiac Services to take up their role from 1 April 2016.

NHS England

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether (a) clinicians and (b) patient groups were consulted on the changes to NHS England's National Clinical Director structure after April 2016.

George Freeman: No patient groups were consulted on the changes, which are being made to ensure that this important resource is focused on clinical areas where we are taking forward major programmes of work, or areas that have otherwise been identified as priorities for service improvement. The changes have been discussed with the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, some individual Colleges and NHS England’s senior medical leaders.

Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Prime Minister's speech of 11 January 2016, on life chances, how the £400 million funding for community and home mental health teams will be allocated.

George Freeman: Funding announced by the Prime Minister on 11 January 2016 for mental health crisis response and home treatment teams will be allocated through clinical commissioning group baseline funding. The allocations will be in line with the net cost agreed as part of the spending review process.

Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Prime Minister's speech of 11 January 2016, on life chances, how the waiting time target for patients with psychosis will be monitored; and when the first results of that monitoring will be published.

George Freeman: The Early Intervention Psychosis access standard will be monitored via the new Mental Health Service Dataset which is managed and reported against by the Health and Social Care Information Centre.As this is a new collection, reporting will be phased starting with basic counts in March 2016 and building in detail as quality is assured. In the meantime NHS England has implemented a bespoke collection to monitor progress against the referral to treatment element of the standard, the first report of which is likely to be available in March 2016.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, in which regions the NHS provides funding for IVF treatment.

Jane Ellison: In vitro fertilisation treatment is provided in all four NHS England Regions. The level of provision of infertility treatment, as for all health services they commission, is decided by local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and will take into account the needs of the population overall. The CCG’s decisions are underpinned by clinical insight and knowledge of local healthcare needs. As such, provision of services will vary in response to local needs.NHS England expects that all those involved in commissioning infertility treatment services to be fully aware of the importance of having regard to the National Institute for Health and Care fertility guidelines.

Parkinson's Disease

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many incidents of medication errors involving hospital patients with Parkinson's disease resulting in (a) no, (b) low, (c) moderate and (d) severe harm were reported to the National Reporting and Learning System in the last quarter of 2014 and in each quarter of 2015; and which reporting organisation reported each such incident.

Ben Gummer: A recent search of the National Reporting Learning System was carried out of all medication incidents reported as occurring between the dates 1 October 2014 and 31 December 2015.This search used key word searches most likely to identify the requested incidents. The search mechanism available does not allow us to confirm that the patients involved with these incidents have Parkinson’s disease but it was focused on medication incidents involving drugs commonly used in Parkinson’s. It is possible that there are additional relevant incidents.The information requested is provided in the attached table.



Medication incidents and Parkinson's disease
(Word Document, 569.5 KB)

Department of Health: Charities

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much his Department paid to charities in 2014-15; and what criteria were used to make decisions about those payments.

George Freeman: The Department works with charities and other voluntary sector organisations and makes grant and procurement payments to these organisations. In 2014-15, £120 million was paid to the voluntary sector. Payment data is held at voluntary sector level, as such, charities are not separately categorised within this data set. It would incur disproportionate cost to extract this subset of the information.Payments made through the procurement route are processed in line with Departmental processes, which are consistent with payments made to other organisations. Grant payments are made in accordance with the individual terms of the grant.

Sexual Health Forum

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many times the Sexual Health Forum has met in each of the last five years; what the dates were of each such meeting; and who attended each such meeting.

Jane Ellison: The Sexual Health and HIV Forum met 15 times between March 2011 and March 2015. The Forum was discontinued in September 2015. Details of dates of meetings and those who attended are shown in the attached document.Public Health England is considering how to take forward appropriate stakeholder relationships in the future.



Sexual Health Forum Meetings March 2011/March 2015
(PDF Document, 260.19 KB)

Nurses: Training

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many nurse training places were available in England in each year from 2009 to 2015.

Ben Gummer: The following table shows the number of pre-registration nurse training places that were available for each year since 2009.Nursing2009/102010/112011/122012/132013/142014/152015/16Planned21,33720,32718,06917,54618,05619,20620,033Source: multi professional education and training budget monitoring returns Health Education England will formally publish the 2016/17 National Workforce Plan for England in February 2016, this document will include confirmation of the proposed increase in nursing commissions.

Nurses: Training

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the removal of bursaries for nurse training on the diversity of the workforce; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the evidence used in making that assessment.

Ben Gummer: The Department plans to issue a public consultation around the end of February 2016. An Equality Impact Assessment will be published alongside the consultation document.

Prostate Cancer: Surgery

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many da Vinci surgical systems for use in the treatment of prostate cancer are in operation in the NHS in England.

Jane Ellison: Data on the number of da Vinci systems for treating prostate cancer, in operation across the National Health Service in England, is not routinely collected or held centrally.

Embryology

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to improve recruitment and retention of embryologists in the NHS in (a) England and (b) the North East.

Mr Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of difficulties in recruiting embryologists in (a) England and (b) the North East.

Ben Gummer: Individual healthcare providers are responsible for ensuring that they have the right level of staffing to provide high quality care to their patients, including embryology services.Health Education England (HEE) was established in 2012 to ensure the National Health Service has access to the right numbers of staff, at the right time and with the right skills. In doing so, HEE works with key external stakeholders to develop its National Workforce Plan for England which sets out the number of training places it will commission in the year ahead to meet future local need.HEE will continue to work with its 13 Local Education and Training Boards and others to ensure that there are sufficient healthcare scientists, including embryologists, being trained to meet the future needs of patients.Currently HEE has 28 reproductive scientists in training (which includes embryology) and are planning a further 11 to start in 2016/17. It takes three years to train a reproductive scientist.The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority have advised that it is not aware of any issues concerning the availability of embryologists in the United Kingdom.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Prisons: Education

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what funding is available for illiterate prisoners to learn to read and write and to receive education while in prison.

Nick Boles: The Offender Learning and Skills Service (OLASS) budget for adults in custody in England is £128.9m for the 2015-16 financial year. This figure includes funding for the National Careers Service in custody.The OLASS budget is not sub-divided for particular subjects or types of learning. The Skills Funding Agency’s funding rules require providers to deliver a core curriculum, commissioned by the prison Governor or the lead Governor for a cluster of prisons in conjunction with the Skills Funding Agency, which must include mandatory initial assessment of English (and maths) for all prisoners on reception to custody, as well as English, maths and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), vocational qualifications, including Information and Communications Technology (ICT), and employability skills (which may include a wide range of team-working, personal, social and other skills).

Apprentices: Taxation

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how the Government plans to adapt implementation of the apprenticeships levy for different sectors.

Nick Boles: The apprenticeship levy will apply to both the private and public sectors. We understand that employers in sectors where a levy is already in place will want clarity on what the introduction of an apprenticeships levy means for them. We will publish further details in due course.

Construction: Training

Mr David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the construction industry who already pay into the Construction Industry Training Board Levy scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Boles: We have ongoing discussions with the construction sector about the CITB Levy scheme on how existing arrangements are affected, and whether any changes are required, including whether they may wish to see changes to the CITB levy regime when the apprenticeship levy takes effect.

Apprentices: Taxation

Mr David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will take steps to ensure that businesses which contribute to the Construction Industry Training Board Levy scheme do not also pay the apprenticeship levy; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Boles: The apprenticeship levy is economy wide. It will apply to all employers with a pay bill over £3,000,000 including those in the construction and engineering construction sectors.We are aware that the industry is concerned about the potential impact of paying two levies. We are working closely with the Industry Training Boards who will consult with their members ahead of the introduction of the apprenticeships levy on how their existing arrangements will be affected.

Apprentices

Phil Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2016 to Question 20474, how many apprenticeships created in the retail and commercial enterprise sector subject area have led to full-time, permanent employment with that employer following the completion of the apprenticeship.

Nick Boles: The 2014 Apprenticeship Evaluation Learner Survey found that for apprentices in the survey who completed Retail and Commercial Enterprise sector frameworks, 90 per cent were employed following their apprenticeship. Of these, 73 per cent were employed by the same organisation with whom they completed the apprenticeship. The sample size of this cohort is not large enough to produce robust estimates of the proportion that are employed full-time.

Employment Agencies: Inspections

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2015 to Question 19955, whether the figures relating to (a) cases and (b) breaches in the tables are a measurement of the number of (i) employment agencies or (ii) agency workers.

Nick Boles: a) The figures for the number of cases are measurements of the total number of different complaints and investigations into employment agencies in each year. In some instances, there are a number of complaints against a single agency, or branches of a larger agency, which are recorded as separate cases for the purposes of these figures.In some instances, a case will be an investigation into an employment agency which leads to the identification of numerous breaches relating to several agency workers, and this would be recorded as a single case for the purposes of these figures.b) The number of breaches relates, in all cases, to the total number of breaches found during contact with employment agencies. For example, when investigating a complaint, the issue which prompted the complaint may not be the only breach that is discovered. In the case of an inspection, the whole of the agency’s relevant documents and procedures will be examined, which may lead to a higher number of breaches being identified and recorded.

Research: Investment

Tom Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the amount of private sector investment in research and development in each of the last three years; and what assessment he has made of trends in the level of such investment.

Joseph Johnson: The amount of UK R&D expenditure performed by the business sector is set out in the table below1. Expenditure in this sector increased by £1.1 billion in cash terms, to £19.9 billion in 2014 compared with 2013.Support for business through the R&D Tax Credit scheme has continued to grow, from 9,250 companies claiming £1.0 billion on £10 billion of expenditure in 2009/10 compared with nearly 18,200 companies claiming £1.75 billion on £14.3 billion of expenditure in 2013/14.£ million201220132014UK Expenditure for R&D performed by Business Enterprise sector - current prices17,40918,79919,935 1 Figures are taken from the ONS publication on Business Enterprise Research and Development, 2014.The business sector figures exclude the private non-profit sector.

Apprentices

Phil Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2016 to Question 20474, whether any businesses in receipt of funding from the apprenticeship programme for the creation of apprenticeships in the retail and commercial enterprise sector subject area have participated in the Government's work experience programme for those on jobseeker's allowance.

Nick Boles: We do not hold this information.

Apprentices: Expenditure

Phil Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 12 January 2016 to Question 20474, how much funding has been allocated to apprenticeships in the retail and commercial enterprise sector subject area since 2010.

Nick Boles: The table below shows estimated funding values for apprenticeships in the Retail and Commercial Enterprise sector subject areas between academic year 2009/10 and 2014/15.Figures for estimated funding come from the Individualised Learner Record and provide an indication of the level of government funding. They should not be treated as actual spend, since spending is not reported by sector subject area.Table 1: Estimated Funding for Apprenticeships in Retail and Commercial Enterprise, 2009/10 to 2014/15Academic YearEstimated Funding (£millions)2009/101792010/112112011/122302012/132172013/142122014/15211Notes:1) Figures show estimated (notional) funding and should not be treated as actual spend.3) Figures do not include estimated (notional) funding for LEOP, EOP or apprenticeship standards, which is not available

Domestic Service: Treaties

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether his Department is taking steps to implement International Labour Convention No.189 on Domestic Workers.

Nick Boles: The UK already provides comprehensive employment and social protection for workers, including domestic workers. This includes the right to National Minimum Wage, right to work a maximum number of hours a week, paid holiday, health & safety protections, maternity/paternity leave and the right to be protected from discrimination.These core rights are enforced for all workers who are legally entitled to work in the UK. The Government is also focused on improving protection for vulnerable domestic workers by ensuring that immigration and border staff are trained to recognise potential victims of abuse; that overseas domestic workers are provided with guidance on their rights and how to obtain help; and that employers know their responsibilities.

Construction: Skilled Workers

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to tackle skills shortages in the construction industry.

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the amount of new entrant workers that will be needed in the construction industry to meet demand in each of the next five years.

Steve Rotheram: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the number of construction workers expected to leave that industry through (a) ill-health and (b) retirement in the next (i) five and (ii) 10 years.

Nick Boles: The Construction Industry Training Board’s (CITB) Construction Skills Network estimates224,000 new construction jobs are set to be created throughout the UK in the next five years. This means that more than 44,000 jobs could be created every year for the next five years.According to CITB estimates, 19% of UK construction workers are aged 55+, and are set to retire in the next 10 years (406,000 people), creating equivalent replace demand.The Government has no estimate of the number of construction workers expected to leave the industry due to ill-health.The Government is committed to significantly increasing the quantity and quality of all apprenticeships in England to 3 million starts by 2020; the construction industry will have an important part to play in achieving this target. Development of skilled labour can only be achieved with engagement of the industry. Construction employers in England are engaged in the Trailblazer process to develop apprenticeship standards that are fit for business, and we have announced a new apprenticeships levy which will put investment in training, and apprenticeships specifically, on a long-term, sustainable footing. CITB returned over £42m last year, supporting 18,500 first, second and third year construction apprentices.Initiatives, by the Construction Leadership Council, or through the CITB are seeking to encourage more young people into construction careers. This work includes the launch of the GO-Construct website and work with the National Careers Service and Construction Ambassadors for schools. The CITB has also developed a range of initiatives, working closely with the Department for Work and Pensions, the Armed Forces resettlement service and Local Enterprise Partnerships, to encourage experienced individuals into the sector.

Apprentices: Standards

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether new apprenticeship standards will be grouped within the same sectors as the frameworks they are replacing to ensure continuity with previously recorded data.

Nick Boles: Employer designed apprenticeship standards focus on the knowledge, skills and behaviour required to achieve full competence in an individual occupation. There is no requirement for employers to replicate particular frameworks or pathways within them, as the priority is creating apprenticeships that meet employers’ needs. To ensure we can track developments in apprenticeship standards – for example, take up in particular sectors or regions – we are currently maintaining the current sector subject area classifications and allocate new standards to them to ensure continuity with previously recorded data.

Apprentices: Engineering and Manufacturing Industries

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of funding for apprenticeships in (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16 was allocated to apprenticeships in the advanced manufacturing and engineering sector.

Nick Boles: Estimated funding for Apprenticeships in the Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies Sector Subject Area in 2014/15 was approximately £353million, that is, 24.9% of the total estimated funding for 2014/15. This data is not available for 2015/16. Figures for estimated funding come from the Individualised Learner Record and provide an indication of the level of government funding. They should not be treated as actual spend, since spending is not reported by Sector Subject Area. Information on actual spend is available for the financial year 2014-15 at the link below and shows a total spend of £1.56bn for Apprenticeships.https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/446591/SFA_Annual_Report_2014_to_2015_PRINT_200715.pdf

Apprentices: Age

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of funding for apprenticeships in (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16 was allocated to the (i) 16-year-old, (ii) 17-year-old, (iii) 18-year-old, (iv) 19 to 21 year-old, (v) 22 to 24 year-old and (vi) 25 plus and older age groups.

Nick Boles: The table below shows estimated funding for Apprenticeships by age in 2014/15. This data is not available for 2015/16. Figures for estimated funding come from the Individualised Learner Record and provide an indication of the level of government funding. They should not be treated as actual spend, since spending is not reported by age group.Table 1: Estimated Funding for Apprenticeships by Age, 2014/15AgeEstimated Funding (£millions)PercentageUnder 1610.1%1616911.9%1721915.5%1829821.1%19-2123816.8%22-241329.3%25+35825.3%Total1,415100.0% Notes:1) Figures show estimated (notional) funding and should not be treated as actual spend.2) Age is self-declared by the learner and is age at the start of the programme.3) Figures do not include estimated (notional) funding for LEOP, EOP or Trailblazers which is not available.Information on actual spend is available for the financial year 2014-15 at the link below and shows a total spend of £1.56bn for Apprenticeships.https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/446591/SFA_Annual_Report_2014_to_2015_PRINT_200715.pdf

New Businesses: Loans

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what criteria his Department uses to determine who receives Start-Up Loans; and what processes are in place to ensure that people with mental health problems have their applications considered fairly.

Anna Soubry: The Start-Up Loans programme provides loans and mentoring support to enable entrepreneurs aged 18 and over from all parts of society and based in the UK to start a business. So far, over 34,300 entrepreneurs have received support from the programme, which in turn has facilitated over £187 million worth of lending to date.The programme operates through a network of Delivery Partners, who make individual lending decisions based on criteria set by the Start-Up Loans Company. Delivery Partners are required to be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. A condition of this authorisation is that they adhere to the FCA’s Treating Customers Fairly principles, which include reference to the treatment of customers with mental health issues.A full list of principles is available on the FCA’s website

Catering

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make an assessment of the value to the economy of the curry industry.

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what information his Department holds on the number of south Asian curry houses in each (a) region and (b) parliamentary constituency.

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what representations his Department has received on trends in the number of curry houses closing down.

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will estimate the number of curry chefs working in the UK in each of the last 10 years.

Anna Soubry: The Government does not hold information on the value of the curry industry, the number of curry houses, trends in the number of curry houses or the number of curry chefs.Official statistics carry figures on the value and number of restaurants, takeaways and other food service businesses in general, but do not detail specific types of food being served. Similarly while the number of chefs and catering staff will be estimated there is no consideration of their specialisation in terms of cuisine.

Students: Loans

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what amount of loans (a) has been issued by and (b) is owed to each company responsible for issuing and collecting student loans.

Joseph Johnson: All student loans issued on behalf of government are issued by the Student Loans Company. Statistics on the loans issued annually by the Student Loans Company are published separately for BIS and each devolved administration in the Statistical First Releases available at the link: http://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/financial-support-awarded.aspx The outstanding balance for Income Contingent Repayment (ICR) Loans issued by the Student Loans Company is published separately for BIS and each devolved administration in the Statistical First Releases available at the link: http://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/student-loans-debt-and-repayment.aspx Students starting courses prior to 1998 were eligible for “mortgage style” loans—such loans have since been sold to independent companies who now administer the collection of loan repayments, but do not issue loans. BIS is not able to state the amount currently owed to these companies. The companies in question are Finance for Higher Education Ltd, Honours Trustee Ltd and Erudio Student Loans Ltd.

Toys and Games: Safety

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent steps the Government has taken to improve toy safety.

Anna Soubry: Toy safety is fully addressed by the Toy Safety Regulations 2011. Officials are engaged with the associated standards developed and maintained through the British Standards Institute and monitoring of Trading Standards enforcement activities.

Lasers: Regulation

Oliver Dowden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what regulations govern the manufacture, import and sale of laser pens in the UK.

Anna Soubry: All products intended for use by consumers are regulated under the General Product Safety Regulations (GPSR) 2005 which implements the EU’s General Product Safety Directive (GPSD). This requires such products to be safe when placed on the market and applies to products where there is no other applicable legislation with more specific provisions on safety. This includes laser pens.In addition to the legislation, lasers sold in the UK and EU are covered by the safety standard BS EN 60825-1: 1994 Safety of Laser Products. This specifies those lasers which should be used by trained operators and therefore not suitable for use by the general public. Laser products up to 1 mW are considered safe for general consumer use.Trading Standards has the powers under the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 to remove laser products from sale to the public, which are unsafe for general consumer use. If anyone is concerned about the safety of a product they should not use it and report it to their local Trading Standards department.

Green Investment Bank: Privatisation

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that the privatisation of the Green Investment Bank represents value for money to the public purse.

Anna Soubry: The Government is following best practice recommended by the National Audit Office (NAO) to ensure a sale of the Green Investment Bank achieves value for money. This includes following the NAO’s recommendations on Government asset sales that were set out in its report on the sale of the Government’s shares in Eurostar.We are consulting with the NAO about the approach we are taking, and will continue to assess whether we are achieving value for money for the taxpayer through all stages of this process.

Green Investment Bank: Privatisation

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what plans his Department has to ensure that a privatised Green Investment Bank would be able to maximise the deployment of equity and debt from the European Fund for Structural Investment and other EU sources.

Anna Soubry: There is no reason why the Green Investment Bank (GIB) could not invest alongside the EFSI whether GIB is in public or private hands, as it seeks to gather the range of financing necessary to sponsor projects.

Trade Promotion: Iran

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether any trade missions to Iran are planned involving businesses from the UK in 2016.

Anna Soubry: The UK government fully supports expanding our trade relationship with Iran. UK Trade and Investment will be leading a whole of government approach to engage with UK companies to ensure that UK businesses are well equipped to benefit from the commercial opportunities that will arise from sanction relief.There is a desire on both sides to build a long-term bilateral relationship based on future partnership, where trade and investment is a key pillar. We plan to take further trade delegations to Iran in the near future across a number of sectors where UK companies are best placed to benefit from commercial opportunities.

Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 4 June 2015 to Question 657, what tangible progress towards the EU-US Free Trade Agreement had been made by the end of 2015; and whether any agreement in principle had been reached on that matter by that date.

Anna Soubry: There have now been eleven rounds of negotiations for the EU-US Free Trade Agreement also known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). A significant step forward was taken last June when the US Congress passed the Trade Promotion Authority bill (fast track authority for trade agreements). The agreement reached at the end of negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (in the Asia Pacific region) last October is further good news, and allows the US to increase focus on TTIP.The last negotiating round took place in October. A significant milestone was reached with the exchange of revised tariff offers, which would see tariffs almost completely removed. Negotiators also discussed all aspects of market access in public procurement. This helps prepare the ground for the first exchange of procurement offers expected in February.We are making tangible progress and our ambition remains to reach an agreement under the Obama presidency.

Green Investment Bank: Fracking

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much funding the Green Investment Bank has invested in fracking projects in the UK.

Anna Soubry: The Green Investment Bank has not invested in any fracking projects.

Ministry of Defence

HMS Ocean: Decommissioning

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2015 to Question 19048, whether a later decommissioning date was specified when HMS Ocean was originally commissioned; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 4 December 2015 to Question 17860 to the hon. Member for Garston and Halewood (Maria Eagle).



HMS Ocean
(Word Document, 14.43 KB)

HMS Ocean: Decommissioning

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2015 to Question 19049, if he will ensure that there will be no gaps in capability between the decommissioning of HMS Ocean and its role being taken over by other ships.

Mr Philip Dunne: We will ensure that other ships are available to provide support to amphibious operations.

Army: Food

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much is spent daily on food on each serving solider.

Mr Philip Dunne: Ministry of Defence personnel in the UK and permanent bases overseas are primarily catered for through a number of multi-activity contracts. Armed Forces personnel serving on operations, exercises and HM Ships and Submarines, are catered for under a single food supply contract with Purple Foodservice Solutions Ltd.The cost of feeding Service personnel when on operational deployments and on training exercises varies, depending upon a defined kilocalorie output, which is based on the level of activity being undertaken. Furthermore, the cost will vary across the world reflecting the cost of locally procured food.For the vast majority of UK bases, the provision of catering services, including food supply, has been out-sourced to commercial contractors. Service personnel accommodated in these bases "pay as they dine" on a meal by meal basis, but are not obliged to take any meals on site.

Armed Forces: Food

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the quality and nutritional value of food served to the Armed Forces.

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many inspections have been carried out into the quality of the food served to UK Armed Forces in each of the last five years.

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what guidance his Department has issued on the standard, quality and nutritional content of food served to UK armed forces.

Mr Philip Dunne: All food procured for Ministry of Defence (MOD) personnel must comply with MOD food quality standards. These standards comply with all UK and EU production standards, Farm Assurance or equivalent. The Defence Food Quality Standards (DFQS) establishes the minimum quality criteria that the Department requires a supplier to deliver. It sets the standard of what food and ingredients should be provided as part of the contracts to provide nutritious and balanced meals to Service Personnel. The DFQS publication is available online through the gov.uk website at:(www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/479299/20151006-DFQS-V12-U.pdf).The MOD requires all of its food suppliers to comply with both EU and National legislation whilst operating to industry standards and monitors the suppliers' compliance with the DFQS through a combination of product testing and conducting inspections of their premises/production facilities.

Yemen: Military Intervention

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assistance British service personnel are providing to Saudi Arabian forces in Yemen.

Penny Mordaunt: The UK and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have a long history of defence cooperation. As part of this long standing relationship, the RAF provides training and shares best practice to the Royal Saudi Air Force, including training on International Humanitarian Law (IHL) compliant targeting.In addition we have provided guidance and advice to the Saudis on their processes to ensure continued compliance with IHL.Finally the UK has deployed a small number of military personnel serving as Liaison Officers in Saudi headquarters. Their role is to build our relationship and provide insight into Saudi operations. Liaison Officers are not involved in directing or conducting operations in Yemen or selecting targets and are not involved in the Saudi targeting decision-making process.

Radioactive Materials: Scotland

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many movements of nuclear material there have been on roads in Scotland in each of the last five years.

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what road routes have been used for the movement of nuclear materials in Scotland in each of the last five years.

Penny Mordaunt: It is Ministry of Defence policy not to comment upon the frequency or routes used by nuclear material convoys, as to do so would, or would be likely to, prejudice national security. Nuclear material convoy movements are kept to the minimum necessary to maintain the operational effectiveness of the UK's nuclear deterrent.

Radioactive Materials: Scotland

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what advisory notices of movements of nuclear material by road in Scotland his Department gives to (a) the Scottish Government and (b) Scottish local authorities in advance of any such movements.

Penny Mordaunt: The Scottish Government and local authorities are not given advance notice of movements that involve Defence nuclear material.Police forces are always notified in advance of a convoy being routed through their area. Police may advise fire and rescue services of the presence of the convoy if it is moving into the vicinity of a fire service operation.

Radioactive Materials: Scotland

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what safety and contingency measures his Department puts in place before nuclear materials are transported on roads in Scotland.

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how the movement of nuclear materials on roads in Scotland by his Department is supervised and regulated.

Penny Mordaunt: The transport of Defence Nuclear Material is regulated by the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator according to the provisions of Joint Service Publication 538, Regulation of the Nuclear Weapon Programme, available at: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/341332/20140801_JSP_538_V3_1_Pt_1.pdfA wide range of safety and contingency measures are in place to ensure the safety of nuclear convoy operations. These are summarised in the Local Authority and Emergency Service Information document available at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-authority-emergency-services-information.

Pakistan: Foreign Relations

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he last met his Pakistani counterpart.

Michael Fallon: I met Pakistan's Defence Minister, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, on 5 August 2015.During my visit I also paid calls on the Prime Minister and other key interlocutors. Most recently, I met with Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff, General Raheel Sharif when he visited the UK last October.

Syria: Military Intervention

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference his oral evidence to the Joint Committee on Human Rights of 16 December 2015, Question 20, HC 574, whether his Department's position was that the UK was in an armed conflict (a) before, (b) on the date of or (c) as a result of the drone strike that killed Reyaad Khan of 21 August 2015.

Michael Fallon: An armed conflict was occuring in Syria at the time of the air strike on 21 August 2015.

Ministry of Defence: Written Questions

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answers of 10 November 2015, 4 December 2015 and 12 December 2015 to Questions 17693, 18405 and 18552, when he plans to place in the Library the documents referred to in those Answers.

Mark Lancaster: The documents were placed in the Library of the House on Tuesday 19 January.

Middle East: Military Intervention

Mr Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the comments made by a spokesperson of his Department in an article published in The Herald newspaper on 10 January 2016, and pursuant to his oral contribution of 18 January 2016, Official Report, column 1118, if he will issue guidance to independent monitoring groups on how to contact his Department on, and how to submit evidence relating to, possible civilian casualties from air strikes in Syria and Iraq; and if he will make a statement.

Penny Mordaunt: Independent monitoring groups are free to contact the Ministry of Defence through the normal means of correspondence and any credible reports of civilian casualties will be investigated.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Local Government: Greater Manchester

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of Greater Manchester City Deal procurement contracts have been given to SMEs in the Greater Manchester area.

James Wharton: The Department for Communities and Local Government does not collect this data on contracts awarded by local authorities.

Rating (Empty Properties) Act 2007

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness and operation of the Rating (Empty Properties) Act 2007.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what savings his Department has made as a result of the Rating (Empty Properties) Act 2007 in each of the last five financial years.

Mr Marcus Jones: In July 2012 the Department for Communities and Local Government published a post – legislative assessment of the then Government’s Rating (Empty Properties) Act 2007 which can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/236094/8411.pdfWe do not hold the figures requested. Details of empty property rate relief granted can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/417995/150326_Table_2_-_3_years.xlsx

Housing: Flood Control

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to ensure that borough councils in two-tier authority areas provide sandbags to all residents to protect their properties during incidents of flooding.

James Wharton: It is up to individual local authorities to set their policies for sandbag distribution and allocation to residents based on flood risk.

Members: Correspondence

Mr David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will arrange for the hon. Member for Walsall North to receive a reply to his letter of 9 December 2015 on behalf of a social housing provider in his constituency.

Brandon Lewis: A reply was sent on 21 January.

Housing: Safety

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many enforcements under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System have been made as a result of category 1 hazards relating to (a) gas safety and (b) electrical safety in each local authority in each of the last five years.

Brandon Lewis: This information is not held centrally.Overall the quality of privately rented housing has improved rapidly over the past decade. Surveys show that 84% of private renters are satisfied with their accommodation. A small number of rogue or criminal landlords knowingly rent out unsafe and substandard accommodation. We have introduced measures in the Housing and Planning Bill to crack down on these landlords so that they either improve the service they provide or leave the sector. Proposals include a database of rogue landlords and property agents, introducing banning orders for serious or repeat offenders, a tougher fit and proper person test, extending Rent Repayment Orders and introducing civil penalties of up to £30,000.

HM Treasury

Small Businesses: Loans

Mr Mark Williams: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when his Department plans to respond to the Eleventh Report from the Treasury Committee, Session 2014-15, Conduct and competition in SME lending, HC204.

Harriett Baldwin: The Government response, which was published on 21 December 2015, is available on gov.uk.

Bank Services: Misrepresentation

Ann Coffey: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has had on the number of complaints to the Financial Ombudsman in relation to the misselling of packaged bank accounts; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin: The Government has not received any representations on the number of complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) in relation to the mis-selling of packaged bank accounts.The FOS publishes an annual review of the complaints handled by the service. Its most recent report, including details of the complaints it has received about packaged bank accounts, can be accessed online at www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ar15/ar15pdf. In addition, Treasury ministers meet with the Chief Ombudsman to discuss the Financial Ombudsman Service’s work.

Economic Situation

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what he assesses to be the major risks to the UK economy.

Harriett Baldwin: Britain is in a much stronger economic position than five years ago, with employment at 74% and the deficit down. However, as the Chancellor set out in his speech on 7 January, we face a dangerous cocktail of economic risks from around the world this year. The International Monetary Fund has revised down their forecasts for world growth in 2016 and 2017, while the UK forecasts remain unchanged. This shows that the best thing that we can do is to continue to fix our public finances, back business and deliver our long-term economic plan.

Landfill Communities Fund

Stephen Timms: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the proposed removal of third party contributions from the Landfill Communities Fund on (a) the future availability of funding for community and biodiversity projects and (b) environmental bodies.

Damian Hinds: Further information on the impact of the changes to the LCF announced at Autumn Statement 2015 is set out in Reform and value of the Landfill Communities Fund. This document can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reform-and-value-of-the-landfill-communities-fund/reform-and-value-of-the-landfill-communities-fund

Women and Equalities

International Women's Day

Mims Davies: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what progress she is making on raising the profile of International Women's Day.

Caroline Dinenage: International Women’s Day has been marked for many years, and is an opportunity to celebrate the progress and achievements of women around the world.I, and many other ministers, will be attending a series of events, workshops and meetings to celebrate the day. We will also be supporting some of the many events that will be held around the country in schools, workplaces and communities. We are all working together to promote International Women’s Day and each year I am amazed by the creativity and energy that is on display.I hope that honourable members will also be supporting events to mark International Women’s Day.

Department for Transport

Railways: Dawlish

Johnny Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to make the rail line through Dawlish more resilient before the next Network Rail Control Period in 2019.

Claire Perry: Network Rail iscurrently implementing a £31million package of schemes to improve the resilience of the Great Western route through the Thames Valley and the West of England.Network Rail is also progressing an Exeter to Newton Abbot geo-environmental study exploring options for providing a more resilient rail route for the future. The work will produce a short-list of options for further strengthening of the existing railway from Control period 6 (2019-2024) and beyond.

Motor Sports

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to bring into force the provisions in the Deregulation Act 2015 to allow for special permits to be issued for on-road racing; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones: Government will implement as soon as possible subject to the priorities set out in the British Road Safety Statement.

West Coast Main Line: Closures

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the cost to business of the closure of the West Coast Main Line between Glasgow and Carlisle.

Claire Perry: Network Rail and the relevant passenger and freight train operators have been working collaboratively since the closure to provide the best practicable alternative travel options for the traffic which uses this part of the West Coast Main Line with the aim of minimising the adverse impact on users.

Unmanned Systems

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will assess the implications for his policies of the Oxford Research Group's recent report entitled, The Hostile use of Drones by Non-State Actors against British Targets; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Robert Goodwill: A cross government working group is maintaining a detailed analysis of the security threats posed by drones. This work includes an assessment of the risks of the use of drones for terrorism and criminal purposes. Further work is now proceeding to capture and evaluate potential mitigation measures and strategies. Initial guidance on tackling the risks has been provided to constabularies across the UK.The findings of the report align well with the ongoing work of this group. While the government recognises that this emerging technology creates exciting opportunities for the UK economy, the risks for security and safety and its response to them will be kept under constant review.

Unmanned Systems

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which (a) ministers attended and (b) departments are represented on the Government's working group on drones; when that group was formed; and what its schedule of meetings is.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Cross Government Working Group on Drones is a group of officials tasked with developing policy on drones. Ministers do not attend. Participation is from the following Departments and agencies:Department for TransportHome OfficeMinistry of DefenceDepartment of Energy and Climate ChangeCabinet OfficeDepartment for Food, Environment and Rural AffairsBusiness Innovation and SkillsCentre for the Protection of National InfrastructureCivil Aviation AuthorityInformation Commissioner’s OfficeMaritime and Coastguard AgencyDepartment for Communities and Local GovernmentThe group was formed in March 2013 and it meets quarterly. The schedule of meetings for 2016 is February; May; September and December.

Railways: Greater London

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to ensure that London is accessible by rail to people who cannot afford peak-time prices and are on lower incomes, when they are travelling to London for meetings during working hours.

Claire Perry: We recognise the pressure and concerns about the cost of some rail fares and the impact that this can have on people’s budgets which is why we have capped the rail fares we regulate at inflation (Retail Price Index) for three years running, and will continue to do so for the life of this Parliament. This means those commuter fares we regulate are only rising by 1% in 2016 making it the lowest fare increase since 2010. Keeping ticket prices low will benefit over a quarter of a million annual season ticket holders, providing an average saving of £425 over the next five years.

Railways: Tickets

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will hold discussions with train operators on making the process of purchasing railway tickets from ticket machines simpler in respect of (a) indicating peak and off-peak times, (b) where peak and off-peak times differs between train operators and (c) in other ways.

Claire Perry: I recognise that ticket vending machines can sometimes be confusing and do not always make it easy for passengers to find the best ticket for their journey.For that reason, I challenged the rail industry at a Summit I held in December 2014 to improve the information they provide through ticket vending machines.The industry has responded by agreeing with the Office of Rail and Road a code of practice on retail information, published in March 2015, and most train operators now have actions underway or complete, which include providing new messages on screens to explain time restrictions and improving the availability of off-peak tickets through vending machines. The Department continues to monitor progress closely in this area.

Travel: Concessions

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department's statistical table BUS0840, on discretionary concessionary travel enhancements, which Travel Concessionary Authorities that reported that they funded enhancements in 2010-11 did not report funding those enhancements in 2015-16 in the category of (a) companions to disabled people, (b) young people, (c) extensions to travel times pre 0930, (d) extensions beyond 2300 during weekdays and (e) national rail services within geographic area.

Andrew Jones: The Department’s statistical table BUS0841 shows each Travel Concession Authority (TCA) and which discretionary enhancements they offer. The figures for 2015/16 are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/463748/bus0841.xlsThe equivalent data for 2010/11 can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/concessionary-travel-statistics-england-2011-12-and-2012-13

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

China: Human Trafficking

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations on North Korean women trafficked into China as part of the next UK-China Human Rights Dialogue.

Mr Hugo Swire: We remain concerned at the continuing reports of widespread and systematic state sanctioned human rights violations in DPRK, and we continue to press the regime to make progress on improving its appalling human rights record, most recently at a meeting that I had in December with a senior visiting North Korean diplomat.We also continue to raise the situation in DPRK with Chinese counterparts. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) raised North Korea’s nuclear programme with State Councillor Yang Jiechi during his visit to China earlier this month, and I raised our human rights concerns with Vice-Minister of the Chinese Communist Party, Chen Fengxiang, in December. We consistently raise our concerns during the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue, particularly on the issue of refoulement (the repatriation of individuals who have left North Korea). We work directly with the Chinese authorities on a number of projects to counter human trafficking which seek to protect the most vulnerable from exploitation, abuse, neglect and violence.

Religious Freedom

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure freedom of religion or belief are promoted in countries with high levels of persecution on the grounds of religion or belief.

Mr David Lidington: This Government is firmly committed to promoting and protecting the right to freedom of religion or belief around the world, and to being a strong voice internationally in defence of this fundamental right. Our work on freedom of religion or belief continues to be an integral part of our new strategic approach to human rights, refocusing our work around three themes: democratic values and the rule of law; strengthening the rules-based international system; and human rights for a stable world.We also carry out project work in a range of countries where the level of persecution is high, working with non-governmental organisations on issues such as promoting better understanding between faiths, bridging sectarian divides, promoting dialogue between faith groups and government and offering technical advice on amending discriminatory laws. In the next financial year, there will be more funding available for such work through the £10.6 million Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy. At the multilateral level, we are working through the UN General Assembly to establish an internationally agreed set of principles for promoting religious tolerance through education.

USA: Travel Information

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will update his Department's travel advice on visiting the US to give specific advice to British Muslims travelling to that country.

Mr Hugo Swire: Our travel advice applies to all British nationals. We advise all British nationals to read our travel advice before travelling to the US.

Christianity

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the UN Human Rights Council on the persecution of Christians.

Mr David Lidington: The UK has a strong record of supporting freedom of religion or belief, including christianity, at the Human Rights Council. We supported the resolution on freedom of religion or belief in both the Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly in 2015, and will look to do so again in March 2016. The UK also supported the appointment of the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Belief, who is tasked with monitoring and reporting these issues worldwide.In addition, we regularly support language in country specific resolutions about the importance of protecting religious minorities, as evidenced in the Syria resolution of September 2015. We also regularly work with EU partners to ensure a strong EU position on freedom of religion or belief at the Human Rights Council.When raising persecution faced by one faith group, we endeavour to frame our remarks in the wider context of the rule of law and freedom – making the point that when one faith community is persecuted, the liberty of all is jeopardised.

China: Human Rights

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what he plans will be on the agenda for the next UK-China Human Rights Dialogue.

Mr Hugo Swire: The UK-China Human Rights Dialogue is a platform for detailed, expert exchanges on human rights issues. The agenda for the next round is still to be agreed with the Chinese government, but we plan to raise the full range of our concerns, as set out in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annual Human Rights Report.

Bahrain: Ethnic Groups

Michelle Donelan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of whether the Shia in Bahrain accept the Al Khalifa government as the legitimate government of that country.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Governance of Bahrain is a matter for all political parties in Bahrain. That is why we encourage all political parties, including Al Wefaq who boycotted elections in November 2014, to engage constructively in political dialogue in order to reach an inclusive political settlement. 14 out of 40 MPs are independent Shia who chose to stand and were elected in 2014 elections. 3 of these are women.

Bahrain: Political Prisoners

Michelle Donelan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on the number of political prisoners in Bahrain; and if he will make representations to the government of Bahrain calling for the release of such prisoners.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We regularly discuss human rights and reform with the Government of Bahrain - including at the biannual UK-Bahrain Joint Working Group meeting which was most recently held in November 2015. If we have specific concerns around convictions or sentencing, we raise these with the Government of Bahrain as part of our wider dialogue on human rights and reform.

Department for International Development

Developing Countries: Health Services

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether the UK will be represented at the meeting of the World Health Organisation's Consultative Expert Working Group on Research and Development: Financing and Coordination in Geneva on 7 to 9 March 2016; and what the Government's priorities for the meeting will be.

Mr Nick Hurd: We are currently in discussions with the World Health Organisation (WHO) regarding who will represent the UK at the meeting of the World Health Organisation's Consultative Expert Working Group in March 2016.The UK Government priority is to see a Pooled Fund for Research and Development established with support from WHO Member States, especially those that have not provided funding for this type of work. The UK Government supports systems that separate the market incentives to produce a drug or vaccine from the Research & Development process, prioritise public health need over profit and work in partnership with a wide range of different organisations, covering the public, private and philanthropic sectors. The UK is the second largest government supporter of the development of new products through product development partnerships, which prioritise need over profit.

Developing Countries: Sustainable Development

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many officials in each government department have responsibility for progress towards the sustainable development goals.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The UK is committed to achieving the Global Goals; this is why we continue to maintain ourcommitmentto spending 0.7% of GNI onoverseas development aid, and why we focus this aid on helping the poorest and most vulnerable people globally. Policy officials across departments - and in particular in DFID - have responsibility for this.

Department for Education

Autism: Young People

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many young people over the age of 16 who are not in education, employment or training have been diagnosed with an autism spectrum condition or identified as having autism-related needs.

Nick Boles: The Department does not hold this information.The 0-25 Special Educational Needs and Disability system extends the rights that children with SEND of compulsory school age previously enjoyed to all those who are studying after the age of 16.All further education providers must now have regard to the SEND Code of Practice[1], and must endeavour to meet the needs of students with SEND, including those with autism.In 2015-16 the Department is providing funding of £239,502 for Ambitious about Autism to extend their previous grant-funded project, Finished at School, which developed an innovative, integrated model of transition support to enable more young people with complex autism and learning disabilities to access further education and training beyond school.[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25

Autism: Children

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what early intervention and education support is available for children who are on the autism spectrum to prevent them developing mental health difficulties later in their school career.

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children under the age of 16 in Plymouth who have been diagnosed with an autism spectrum condition or have been identified as having autism-related needs are being home educated.

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children under the age of 16 in Plymouth who have been diagnosed with an autism spectrum condition or have been identified as having autism-related needs are not in education.

Edward Timpson: Our reformed system for meeting the needs of children and young people with Special Educational Needs (SEN) and Disabilities is designed to ensure that their needs are identified at an early stage, that the right support is in place, and that problems do not escalate.All early years providers are required to have arrangements in place to identify and support children with SEN or disabilities and to promote equality of opportunity for children in their care. All schools should have a clear approach to identifying and responding to SEN and must use their best endeavours to ensure that children with SEN, including those with autism, get the support they need.As part of their Initial Teacher Training, all teachers are expected to learn to identify and address various types of SEN, including autism. The Government is also funding the Autism Education Trust in 2015-16, providing £650,000 to provide tiered training at universal, enhanced and specialist levels for early years, school and post-16 staff to help them understand how best to recognise and support children and young people with autism.The Department does not hold data on the numbers of autistic children who are home educated nor the numbers of children who are not in school. The Alternative Provision Census does collect data about children who are not in school or in a pupil referral unit. However, it covers as a single ‘Not in School’ category only those who are educated otherwise than at school under arrangements made and funded by local authorities. The information does not reflect types of special educational need.The data may be available from Plymouth City Council, since it has a duty under Section 22 of the Children and Families Act 2014 to carry out its functions with a view to identifying all the children and young people in its area who have or may have special educational needs or a disability, and also a duty to provide children of compulsory school age with an education.

Teachers: Training

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of qualified teachers.

Nick Gibb: Holding answer received on 22 January 2016



Teaching continues to be a hugely popular career. The number of teachers returning to the classroom continues to rise and in 2015/16 we recruited more trainee primary school teachers than our target. We recognise the challenge school leaders face in some parts of the country, and are working to address this with action.We are committed to attracting more top graduates into teaching, and have already announced increased bursaries and other financial incentives in those core academic subjects that help children achieve their potential; including tax free bursaries of up to £30,000.We have significantly expanded the School Direct teacher training route which gives schools more opportunity to recruit and train their own high-quality teachers and future leaders. This year over 10,000 trainees are starting School Direct courses, up from 9,000 last year.We have funded the expansion of Teach First into every region of England. Teach First will have the scope to reach 90 per cent of eligible schools by 2016, boosting our commitment to recruit more top teachers in rural, coastal and disadvantaged areas.In addition, the Department recently announced the ‘Supporting Returning Teachers’ pilot, to support secondary schools to improve teacher recruitment in priority subjects by removing the barriers that prevent inactive but qualified teachers from returning to the classroom. As part of this pilot, we are helping schools to provide a tailored package of support for those wishing to return to the profession and offering grant funding of up to £1,900 per teacher recruited.

Pupils: Disadvantaged

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will assess the potential merits of enabling or compelling local authorities to use housing and council tax benefit data to (a) identify children who are eligible for free school meals and the pupil premium and (b) enable parents and guardians of those children to claim free school meals for their children.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Schools

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to allocate two unique reference numbers to schools which have designated provision within the school for the purpose of differentiating results for that provision and the whole school.

Edward Timpson: We have no plans to allocate two unique reference numbers to schools which have designated provision within the school. Disaggregating the results of children in designation provision from the results of children in mainstream schooling in performance data would be at odds with the principle of inclusivity.I refer the Right Honourable MP to my response to PQ 23155, submitted to Parliament on Friday 22 January 2016, in which I explained that disaggregating results in this way would create incentives to place children in designated provision regardless of whether or not that was in their best interest.

Children: Day Care

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the affordability of childcare in (a) Lambeth, (b) Southwark and (c) London.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Vocational Guidance: Greater London

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what representations she has received from business organisations on the quality of careers information advice and guidance in (a) Lambeth and (b) Southwark; and how she has responded to those representations.

Nick Boles: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Further Education: Greater London

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with education providers in (a) Lambeth and (b) Southwark on FE area reviews.

Nick Boles: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Foster Care

Mike Wood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of the introduction of Staying Put arrangements on foster children.

Edward Timpson: Staying Put arrangements help to provide the security and stability that care leavers need to make a successful transition to adulthood. The Department for Education has provided funding of £44m to local authorities for 2014/15 to 2016/17 to support them in implementing the new duty.Data published by my Department in October 2015 show that, for the year ending March 2015, 48% of eligible care leavers were in a Staying Put arrangement at age 18.

Parkfield School

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answers of 6 July 2015 to Questions 5048, 5049 and 5050, whether bat removal licences have been granted; and whether it is expected that the new premises for Parkfield School at Hurn will be ready for occupation by September 2016.

Edward Timpson: The permanent site for Parkfield School will be ready for occupation in September 2016 in refurbished buildings. The occupation of the building will be phased and it is expected that all works, including the new sports hall, will be completed in the spring of 2017. Bat licences and other permissions are in place.

Schools: Lincolnshire

Stephen Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to assist schools in Lincolnshire to resolve recent issues relating to the provision of financial services by SERCO on behalf of Lincolnshire County Council.

Mr Sam Gyimah: We've been in correspondence on this issue and theHon. Memberis aware that the management of financial services to schools is the devolved responsibility of the local authority.The local authority has confirmed they are aware of the problem. They have put in place an emergency project board, and are processing payments manually where necessary. Schools concerned about urgent payments should contact the local authority who will intervene and make an emergency payment.

Leader of the House

Leader of the House of Commons: Defibrillators

Andrew Percy: To ask the Leader of the House, how many defibrillators are provided in each building his Office manages.

Chris Grayling: The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons does not directly manage any buildings.

Leader of the House of Commons: Official Hospitality

Neil Coyle: To ask the Leader of the House, what events have taken place in the Leader's Parliamentary Office in 2016; and what the cost to the public purse has been of each such event.

Chris Grayling: Details of Ministerial diaries are published regularly. There has been no public expense to any event held in the office of the Leader of the House of Commons in 2016.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

National Lottery

Ruth Smeeth: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to publish the recommendations of the Gambling Commission in response to his Department's call for evidence on the National Lottery and raising funds for good causes, launched in December 2014.

Ruth Smeeth: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he intends to publish the responses to his Department's call for evidence on the National Lottery and raising funds for good causes, launched in December 2014.

David Evennett: The responses to the Government's Call for Evidence on the National Lottery, society lotteries and competing gambling products in raising funds for good causes will be published, excepting those that are commercially sensitive, in due course.The Gambling Commission is also providing advice to Government on society lotteries in response to the CMS Select Committee report and we understand they will make this public in due course.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Defibrillators

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many defibrillators are provided in each building his Department manages.

Mr Edward Vaizey: There is one defibrillator at the Government Art Collection, Queen’s Yard, 179a Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 7PA.In addition, The Department has offices at 100 Parliament Street,a building shared between several Government departments, and there are 10defibrillators on site.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Air Pollution

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department has taken to comply with the order of the Supreme Court in April 2015 on the need to tackle air pollution.

Rory Stewart: In April 2015, the Supreme Court ordered that the Government must submit new air quality plans for nitrogen dioxide to the European Commission by no later than 31 December last year, having held a public consultation on those plans for a minimum of 40 working days.The public consultation took place between 12 September and 6 November. Defra submitted new plans setting out how the UK Government intends to improve air quality and meet the requirements of the ambient air quality directive to the European Commission on 17 December last year, meeting the requirements of the order.

Sheep Meat: Prices

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to ensure that (a) abattoirs processing sheep use the standardised carcase classification or EUROP grid and (b) mandatory deadweight price reporting for such carcases is introduced.

George Eustice: Defra and the devolved administrations (DA) are contributing to the Commission’s ongoing review of regulations on carcase classification and price reporting as part of the EU Commission’s legislation simplification programme. We aim to ensure that UK farmers are not disadvantaged and that no unnecessary burdens are placed on the industry.In addition, the Commissioner has established a series of workshops on the future of the sheep industry in the European Union. This forum provides an opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues relevant to the industry, including carcase classification and price reporting. Defra and the DAs are fully engaged in these discussions.

Hunting

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the environmental effects of the use of imported fox urine for the purposes of trail hunting.

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance her Department issues on the import and use of fox urine for the purpose of trail hunting.

Rory Stewart: The Government has no plans to make an assessment or issue guidance on the import and use of fox urine for the purpose of trail hunting.

Floods: Ayrshire

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on who took the decision to request the use of a helicopter to winch passengers off the bus in Dailley, Ayrshire, during the floods of December 2015.

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on who took the decision not to use a professional heavy vehicle recovery operator to recover the bus which was trapped in floodwater in Dailley, Ayrshire, in December 2015.

Rory Stewart: These decisions would have been taken by the Scottish Government, as flooding is a devolved matter.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: UK Membership of EU

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what aspects of policy on (a) farming and (b) other issues within her remit are under discussion in the UK's negotiations with other EU member states on the terms of UK membership of the EU; and what her role has been in those negotiations.

George Eustice: The Government is fighting hard to fix the aspects of our EU membership that cause so much frustration in the UK - so we get a better deal for the UK and secure our future. The Government is focused on delivering a successful renegotiation; it believes it can and will succeed in reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU.Separately, the UK continues to make the case for improvement to the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) so that it is simpler and more effective. Reducing the administrative burden of the CAP on farmers is a necessary part of increasing the competitiveness of our food and farming industries.

Recycling

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of measures to stimulate demand for recycled material; and if she will make a statement.

Rory Stewart: Incentivising recycled content in new products has environmental benefits, and consumers generally have a positive image of products with recycled content.Working through the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), we have developed and delivered a number of activities in support of both the use of recycled materials in new products, and on activities to stimulate its demand. Developing and securing sustainable end markets for recycled materials is key to ensuring the UK meets its statutory recycling targets and supports growth of the waste reprocessing sector. For example, recycled bottle plastic now has a number of end markets, including “back to bottles” and plastic packaging such as trays, as well as its more traditional end market of fibre.We have significant ongoing work in the area, including the delivery of the Plastics Industry Recycling Action Plan. This includes projects on design for recyclability and development of suitable end markets for plastic recyclate; and the coordinated development and delivery of a Food Waste Recycling Action Plan by industry and Local Authorities to disseminate and promote current research and best practice to increase the supply and quality of household and commercial food waste to the food waste recycling industry.

Agriculture: Finance

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the trends in the level of farm borrowing.

George Eustice: Total UK farm borrowing in 2014 stood at £16.6 billion. Over the last 10 years borrowing has increased by nearly 70%, or by 34% in real terms (allowing for the impact of inflation).However, the total value of UK farm assets has more than doubled in real terms over the last 10 years, largely due to the increased value of land. This has led to a significant increase in the net worth of the sector despite the rise in borrowing.More details on the borrowing, value of assets and net worth of the sector can be found in the aggregate balance sheet for agriculture on the statistics (total farm incomes) page of the GOV.UK website.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to introduce interim payments under the Basic Payments Scheme for farmers who have not received their payments by the end of January 2016.

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the proportion of farmers who will have received their payments under the Basic Payments Scheme by the end of January 2016.

George Eustice: When part payments have been made in the past this has led to years of confusion for farmers and additional costs in processing and disallowance for the Rural Payments Agency. This is why the RPA continues to focus on making full payments on the remaining claims as quickly as possible.As at 18 January the RPA had paid around two thirds of eligible Basic Payment Scheme claims received. The Agency continues to focus on making payments on the remainder of claims as soon as possible and remains on track to pay the vast majority of claims by the end of this month.

Recycling: EU Action

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the European Commission's Circular Economy Action Plan proposals, published in December 2015; and if she will make a statement.

Rory Stewart: The European Commission's Circular Economy Action Plan sets out a large number of proposed measures to be delivered between 2015 and 2019 and we are currently considering those in more detail. An Explanatory Memorandum on the Action Plan has been submitted and can be found on the Cabinet Office’s website under European Memoranda:(http://europeanmemoranda.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/memorandum/communication-from-the-commission-to-the-ep-council-the-eesc-cor-closing-the-loop-an)That document provides further information on the Action Plan and outlines our current views on the policy implications of its proposals.

Flood Control: Per Capita Costs

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answers of 11 January 2016 to Question 21375 and of 18 January 2016 to Question 22215 on flood control: per capita costs, what steps she took to ensure that the geographical boundaries of Environment Agency areas and census regions matched for the purposes of those calculations.

Rory Stewart: Public facing Environment Agency Areas match local council boundaries used by the Office of National Statistics (with the exception of ‘Central Bedfordshire’) and so census figures can be scaled to the Environment Agency Areas that the flood risk management Grant in Aid allocations were taken from. As Central Bedfordshire is wholly within the Areas that make up our eastern hub this does not change the per capita calculation.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Carbon Sequestration

Harry Harpham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the total cost to the public purse had been of developing carbon capture and storage technology.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government continues to view CCS as having a potential role in the long-term decarbonisation of the UK’s power and industrial sectors and has invested over £222 million since 2011 in developing carbon capture and storage technology, including approximately £130 million through our support to new technologies and research to help develop new capture technologies to reduce costs. The latest investment includes £1.7 million for three innovative CCS technologies awarded through Energy Entrepreneurs Fund and £2.5 million to identify suitable CO2 stores in the North and Irish Seas.Government has also supported industry to complete detailed engineering and design work on CCS project proposals to determine their cost and feasibility, ensuring that knowledge gained is made freely available to benefit future CCS projects and aid research and development in CCS technology.

Carbon Sequestration

Harry Harpham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the effect on private sectors investment in carbon capture and storage (CCS) of the Government's decision to end the CCS fund.

Andrea Leadsom: The UK is widely seen to be one of the most stable markets due to its attractive risk and return profile, world class regulation, transparent policy development, strong financial markets and clear property rights for investors.Our view remains that CCS has a potential role in the long-term decarbonisation of the UK. We are engaging closely with the two bidders and wider CCS industry on both the implications for them of the decision to withdraw the CCS Competition’s ring-fenced capital budget, and the future of CCS in the UK. As part of this engagement, Government held a meeting of the joint industry/Government CCS Development Forum, co-chaired by Minister of State, in December 2015.

Energy Supply: Subsidies

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what projections her Department has made of the subsidies existing fossil fuel generators will receive through the Capacity Mechanism.

Andrea Leadsom: We do not subsidise fossil fuel generators, any fuel type can participate in the Capacity Market as the scheme is technology neutral. Auctions in the Capacity Market are competitive to ensure best value.Capacity market payments to be made to existing fossil fuel generators are £559m from 2014 auction and £714.3mfrom 2015 auction (both in 2015 values).The Capacity Market is designed to ensure we take account of low carbon technology supported through other Government schemes before calculating requirements; this ensures we get the most out of existing generation, bringing on new capacity when required. Capacity market payments are to provide missing money in the energy market and are not a subsidy. Capacity providers will also face heavy penalties if they fail to deliver energy when needed.The purpose of the Capacity Market is therefore to make sure we keep the lights on, while providing best value to consumers.

Hinkley Point C Power Station

Callum McCaig: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what level of domestic content her Department expects to be used in the construction of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant.

Andrea Leadsom: Work to enable the British supply chain to compete for contracts means that we expect more than 60% of the project’s construction value to go to UK companies.The construction and operation of Hinkley Point C will create 25,000 employment opportunities with a peak workforce of 5,600 people and thousands more in the supply chain. At least 5,000 people from Somerset are expected to work directly on the project. The project aims to create 1,000 apprenticeships alongside £14 million of EDF Energy investment in education and training. When operating, 900 jobs and £40 million a year is expected to be delivered to the local economy for 60 years, through wages and supply contracts.

Carbon Sequestration

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she is taking to ensure that Carbon Capture and Storage is rolled out in the UK energy generation market.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government continues to view Carbon Capture and Storage as having a potential role in the long-term decarbonisation of the UK’s power and industrial sectors.The Government has invested over £130 million in CCS Research & Development between 2011 and 2016. We announced in October 2015 £1.7 million support for three innovative CCS technologies through our Energy Entrepreneurs Fund, and our £2.5 million project through the Energy Technologies Institute to begin appraisal of five potential CO2 stores which is due to conclude by March 2016. We are also supporting, jointly with the Scottish Government, the CCS developer Summit Power with £4.2 million funding to undertake industrial research and development at their proposed CCS Caledonia Clean Energy Project in Grangemouth.The Government continues to engage closely with the CCS industry on the future of Carbon Capture and Storage in the UK. I co-chaired a special session of the joint Government-industry CCS Development Forum in December 2015.

Environment Protection: Investment

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of whether there have been market failures in green and low carbon investment over the last five years; and if she will make an assessment of the most important potential threats to such investment.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Environment Protection: Investment

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate her Department has made of the amount of (a) public and (b) private sector investment needed to fulfil Government targets for low-carbon infrastructure and supply chain investment in each year to 2025.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Carbon Sequestration: Yorkshire and the Humber

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether the 450 million euros of funding from the EU allocated to carbon capture and storage projects in Yorkshire and the Humber will be spent in the UK following the decision to reduce spending on carbon capture and storage announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority

Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority: Pay

Melanie Onn: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, what the average salary is for employees of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority.

Mr Charles Walker: The average basic salary for IPSA employees in £36,625 and the median figure is £29,652, as at December 2015. IPSA publishes details of salary bands paid to its employees on its website.

Attorney General

Care Homes: Wales

Gerald Jones: To ask the Attorney General, what discussions he has had with the CPS about the findings of the Flynn Report on the neglect of older people living in care homes in Wales.

Gerald Jones: To ask the Attorney General, if he will discuss with the Director of Public Prosecutions the findings of the Flynn Report on the neglect of older people living in care homes in Wales and the disciplinary decisions of the Nursing and Midwifery Council about three of the nurses involved in that neglect; and if he will ask the Director of Public Prosecutions to reconsider the decision not to bring any criminal prosecutions in relation to the findings of operation Jasmine.

Robert Buckland: The evidence in relation to Operation Jasmine has been carefully considered by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and they have concluded that there is insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect in accordance with the Code for Prosecutors.The Director of Public Prosecutions noted the findings of the Flynn report. She has previously considered and responded to the specific recommendation that the CPS refer the case to the Special Crime Division but considered that to be neither necessary or appropriate given that the Special Crime Division was involved in the original decision making.

Ministry of Justice

Motor Vehicles: Insurance

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of how much motor insurance premiums reduced after the changes introduced by the Jackson civil litigation reforms and the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012; and if he will make a statement.

Dominic Raab: This information is not collected by the Ministry of Justice.

Prisons: Discipline

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2016 to Question 20908, on prisons: discipline, for what reasons the listed additional days were added.

Andrew Selous: The table attached shows the numbers of awards of additional days in each prison establishment as a result of adjudications in each year since 2010, setting out the numbers in the main categories of breach of prison discipline.Violence in prison has increased in recent years. The nature of offenders currently in custody and the widespread availability of new psychoactive substances have both contributed to making prisons less safe. There is no single, simple solution to improving safety in prisons but we are making progress.We are trialling the use of body worn cameras and training sniffer dogs to detect New Psychoactive Substances. We have made it an offence to smuggle New Psychoactive Substance into prison, but ultimately the only way to reduce violence in prisons is to give governors and those who work in prisons the tools necessary to more effectively reform and rehabilitate offenders.



Number of awards and additional days 2010-14
(Excel SpreadSheet, 22 KB)

Prison Accommodation

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people in each prison in England and Wales are accommodated in cells designed for (a) one person but occupied by two and (b) two people but occupied by three.

Andrew Selous: As the Secretary of State has said, the prison estate is overcrowded and out of date. That’s why we have announced that we will close down aging and ineffective prisons, replacing them with buildings fit for today’s demands.Figures for the number of prisoners held two to a cell designed for one (known as doubling) or three to a cell (known as trebling) are set out in the table below for year 2014-15. To place the numbers in context they are shown alongside the average prisoner population and the percentage of the population held two to a cell designed for one or three people held in a cell designed for two.Average doubling and trebling / other crowded conditions by prison establishment, 2014/15EstablishmentAverage number of prisoners held in doubled conditionsAverage number of prisoners held in trebled or other crowded conditions (i.e. dormitories)Average populationPercentage of average population held in doubled conditionsPercentage of average population held in trebled or other crowded conditions (i.e. dormitories)Total percentage of average population held in crowded conditionsAltcourse627.877.51,122.455.9%6.9%62.8%Ashfield0.00.0389.80.0%0.0%0.0%Askham Grange0.00.097.80.0%0.0%0.0%Aylesbury53.70.0413.313.0%0.0%13.0%Bedford277.738.1492.256.4%7.7%64.2%Belmarsh0.0478.8876.30.0%54.6%54.6%Birmingham713.30.01,423.950.1%0.0%50.1%Blantyre House0.00.097.90.0%0.0%0.0%Brinsford0.00.0424.40.0%0.0%0.0%Bristol361.20.0587.661.5%0.0%61.5%Brixton347.321.7726.547.8%3.0%50.8%Bronzefield0.00.0501.60.0%0.0%0.0%Buckley Hall77.00.0448.117.2%0.0%17.2%Bullingdon435.30.01,095.839.7%0.0%39.7%Bure52.80.0634.58.3%0.0%8.3%Cardiff478.30.0795.860.1%0.0%60.1%Channings Wood55.80.0720.87.7%0.0%7.7%Chelmsford273.20.0697.239.2%0.0%39.2%Coldingley0.06.0511.30.0%1.2%1.2%Cookham Wood0.00.0150.40.0%0.0%0.0%Dartmoor34.00.0649.15.2%0.0%5.2%Deerbolt0.00.0465.80.0%0.0%0.0%Doncaster728.80.01,116.565.3%0.0%65.3%Dovegate13.30.01,110.81.2%0.0%1.2%Dover (IRC)0.00.0347.80.0%0.0%0.0%Drake Hall0.00.0308.10.0%0.0%0.0%Durham611.30.0935.865.3%0.0%65.3%East Sutton Park0.00.087.20.0%0.0%0.0%Eastwood Park74.80.0329.322.7%0.0%22.7%Elmley377.3181.81,180.032.0%15.4%47.4%Erlestoke0.00.0507.00.0%0.0%0.0%Exeter440.20.0525.283.8%0.0%83.8%Featherstone26.50.0685.13.9%0.0%3.9%Feltham0.00.0547.60.0%0.0%0.0%Ford0.00.0483.40.0%0.0%0.0%Forest Bank697.80.01,428.048.9%0.0%48.9%Foston Hall5.80.0285.02.0%0.0%2.0%Frankland0.00.0779.50.0%0.0%0.0%Full Sutton0.00.0598.40.0%0.0%0.0%Garth34.53.2755.64.6%0.4%5.0%Gartree0.00.0712.20.0%0.0%0.0%Glen Parva342.80.0628.954.5%0.0%54.5%Grendon / Spring Hill0.00.0528.80.0%0.0%0.0%Guys Marsh88.80.0561.315.8%0.0%15.8%Haslar (IRC)0.00.0159.10.0%0.0%0.0%Hatfield0.00.0259.00.0%0.0%0.0%Haverigg38.30.0636.86.0%0.0%6.0%Hewell487.00.01,271.638.3%0.0%38.3%High Down199.30.01,145.517.4%0.0%17.4%Highpoint44.70.01,327.83.4%0.0%3.4%Hindley0.00.0263.10.0%0.0%0.0%Hollesley Bay0.00.0402.20.0%0.0%0.0%Holloway0.00.0524.80.0%0.0%0.0%Holme House375.00.01,184.631.7%0.0%31.7%Hull484.80.0906.853.5%0.0%53.5%Humber176.30.01,023.417.2%0.0%17.2%Huntercombe191.00.0406.747.0%0.0%47.0%Isis257.30.0607.342.4%0.0%42.4%Isle of Wight157.20.31,122.814.0%0.0%14.0%Kennet173.70.0252.668.8%0.0%68.8%Kirkham0.00.0586.30.0%0.0%0.0%Kirklevington Grange0.00.0278.90.0%0.0%0.0%Lancaster Farms71.50.0446.616.0%0.0%16.0%Leeds1,053.80.01,195.788.1%0.0%88.1%Leicester312.00.0357.487.3%0.0%87.3%Lewes135.50.0665.820.4%0.0%20.4%Leyhill0.00.0474.80.0%0.0%0.0%Lincoln463.30.0641.372.2%0.0%72.2%Lindholme169.70.01,001.216.9%0.0%16.9%Littlehey116.80.01,105.510.6%0.0%10.6%Liverpool255.824.41,219.621.0%2.0%23.0%Long Lartin0.00.0612.40.0%0.0%0.0%Low Newton0.00.0297.50.0%0.0%0.0%Lowdham Grange43.80.0915.84.8%0.0%4.8%Maidstone66.70.0594.811.2%0.0%11.2%Manchester552.30.01,126.849.0%0.0%49.0%Moorland111.20.01,006.211.0%0.0%11.0%Morton Hall (IRC)0.00.0356.90.0%0.0%0.0%Mount33.00.0788.64.2%0.0%4.2%New Hall0.00.0389.60.0%0.0%0.0%North Sea Camp76.20.0361.821.1%0.0%21.1%Northumberland0.00.01,330.60.0%0.0%0.0%Norwich241.013.8748.432.2%1.8%34.0%Nottingham677.80.01,053.364.4%0.0%64.4%Oakwood0.00.01,574.30.0%0.0%0.0%Onley0.00.0710.80.0%0.0%0.0%Parc443.20.01,440.630.8%0.0%30.8%Pentonville584.00.01,305.544.7%0.0%44.7%Peterborough305.80.0976.831.3%0.0%31.3%Portland148.80.0548.327.1%0.0%27.1%Preston624.00.0693.889.9%0.0%89.9%Ranby348.20.01,071.732.5%0.0%32.5%Risley60.30.01,099.15.5%0.0%5.5%Rochester0.00.0739.40.0%0.0%0.0%Rye Hill0.00.0602.60.0%0.0%0.0%Send0.00.0276.60.0%0.0%0.0%Stafford0.00.0713.00.0%0.0%0.0%Standford Hill0.00.0448.10.0%0.0%0.0%Stocken147.20.0838.717.5%0.0%17.5%Stoke Heath154.59.2674.522.9%1.4%24.3%Styal14.20.0439.83.2%0.0%3.2%Sudbury0.00.0513.00.0%0.0%0.0%Swaleside0.00.01,105.70.0%0.0%0.0%Swansea351.523.8429.481.9%5.5%87.4%Swinfen Hall99.50.0581.817.1%0.0%17.1%Thameside524.20.0886.259.1%0.0%59.1%Thorn Cross0.00.0328.40.0%0.0%0.0%Usk / Prescoed250.20.0493.250.7%0.0%50.7%Verne (IRC)0.00.0316.20.0%0.0%0.0%Wakefield4.70.8741.70.6%0.1%0.7%Wandsworth1,333.20.01,617.882.4%0.0%82.4%Warren Hill0.00.0138.70.0%0.0%0.0%Wayland125.50.0985.512.7%0.0%12.7%Wealstun32.70.0804.54.1%0.0%4.1%Werrington0.00.0111.40.0%0.0%0.0%Wetherby0.00.0223.70.0%0.0%0.0%Whatton114.00.0834.013.7%0.0%13.7%Whitemoor0.00.0450.80.0%0.0%0.0%Winchester388.30.0671.857.8%0.0%57.8%Woodhill364.20.1757.048.1%0.0%48.1%Wormwood Scrubs123.80.01,242.510.0%0.0%10.0%Wymott148.80.01,115.313.3%0.0%13.3%National Total20,885.4879.385,315.024.5%1.0%25.5%Note:Establishments provide monthly figures for the number of prisoners held in crowded conditions. The number held in trebled conditions cannot be reliably separated from those which are held in crowded conditions within dormitories, noting it is believed rare that crowding occurs in dormitories.We will always have enough prison places for those sent to us by the courts. We are investing in reforming and modernising the prison estate. Our reforms will make the prison estate more efficient, safer and focused on supporting prisoner rehabilitation and will reduce crowding.

Youth Custody: Disciplinary Proceedings

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many staff working in (a) young offender institutions, (b) secure training centres and (c) secure children's homes have been (i) suspended following a child protection allegation (ii) disciplined following a child protection allegation, (iii) dismissed following a child protection allegation and (iv) convicted of sexual or violent offences against children in the last five years.

Andrew Selous: This information is not held centrally.

Prisoners: Foreign Nationals

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many foreign national offenders are in prison in England and Wales.

Andrew Selous: This information is published and the latest figures, from April to June 2015, can be be found using the link below.https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2015

Youth Custody: Crimes of Violence

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many incidents of offender-on-offender violence there have been in (a) secure children's homes, (b) secure training centres, (c) youth offender institutions and (d) young offenders institutions in each year since May 2010.

Andrew Selous: Statistics on assaults where the victim was a young person accommodated in the secure estate are published in the annual Youth Justice Statistics report (in chapter 8, table 17). In Secure Children’s Homes, young people are held on welfare grounds as well as criminal grounds. The latest published information includes assaults by a young offender where the victim is placed in the Secure Children's Home (SCH) on welfare or criminal grounds and covers the period from the year ending March 2010 to the year ending March 2014. More up to date information covering up to the year ending March 2015 will be available at 9.30am on 28 January 2016 at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/youth-justice-statisticsPrisoner on prisoner assault figures are published at an establishment level and can be found here (see assaults in prison custody 2000-2014, table 16): https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/safety-in-custody-quarterly-bulletin-june-2015

Prison Service

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many grievances have been lodged by Prison Service staff in each prison in the last 12 months.

Andrew Selous: NOMS has a Staff Grievance policy which provides all staff with clear guidance and a framework through which they can raise workplace grievances that are dealt with promptly. The policy is line with statutory requirements and Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service principles.The information requested is provided in the table below. A total of 860 staff raised grievances in the last year, compared to 1050 in 2009/10. This is a fall of 18%, in line with staff reductions.Number of staff raising grievances by prison, 2014/15PrisonsNumber of staff raising grievancesAskham Grange~Aylesbury~Bedford~Belmarsh10Blantyre House~Brinsford~Bristol10Brixton~Buckley Hall10Bullingdon20Bure10Cardiff~Channings Wood10Chelmsford~Coldingley10Cookham Wood~Dartmoor~Deerbolt10Dorchester~Dover~Downview10Drake Hall~Durham10East Sutton Park~Eastwood Park~Elmley10Erlestoke10Everthorpe~Exeter~Featherstone10Feltham10Ford~Foston Hall~Frankland10Full Sutton10Garth10Gartree10Glen Parva~Grendon10Guys Marsh10Haslar10Hatfield10Haverigg10Hewell10High Down10Highpoint20Hindley~Hollesley Bay~Holloway~Holme House10Hull~Humber20Huntercombe~Isis~Isle of Wight10Kennet~Kirkham10Kirklevington Grange~Lancaster Farms10Latchmere House~Leeds10Leicester10Lewes20Leyhill~Lincoln10Lindholme30Littlehey10Liverpool10Long Lartin10Low Newton10Maidstone10Manchester10Moorland10Morton Hall~New Hall~North Sea Camp~Norwich~Nottingham10Onley10Pentonville10Portland10Preston10Ranby10Risley20Rochester10Send~Sheppey Clustered Services~Sheppey Reducing Re-Offending~Stafford10Standford Hill~Stocken10Stoke Heath~Styal~Sudbury~Swaleside10Swansea10Swinfen Hall10The Mount10The Verne10Thorn Cross~Usk/Prescoed20Wakefield~Wandsworth20Warren Hill~Wayland10Wealstun10Werrington~Wetherby20Whatton20Whitemoor10Winchester10Woodhill10Wormwood Scrubs20Wymott10Total860All figures are rounded to the nearest 10, with numbers ending in 5 rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias. As with all HR databases, extracts are taken at a fixed point in time, to ensure consistency of reporting. However the database itself is dynamic, and where updates to the database are made late, subsequent to the taking of the extract, these updates will not be reflected in figures produced by the extract. For this reason, HR data are unlikely to be precisely accurate, and to present unrounded figures would be to overstate the accuracy of the figures. Rounding to 10 accurately depicts the level of certainty that is held with these figures.Totals are formed from unrounded parts prior to rounding. For this reason, rounded totals may not equal the sum of their rounded parts.~ denotes suppressed values of 5 or fewer. Low numbers are suppressed, in conjunction with the rounding policy to prevent disclosure in accordance with the Data Protection Act, 1998. This is because this information, if released, could lead to identification of the individuals concerned. This would be unlawful under the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) as it would be in breach of one or more of the Data Protection Principles. We are not obliged, under section 40(2) of the Act, to provide information that is the personal information of another person if releasing would contravene any of the provisions in the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA).

Courts: Closures

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what is the maximum amount of time his Department has determined as a reasonable time for court users to have to travel to their nearest court by public transport when making decisions on court closures.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Access to justice is not just about proximity to a court. To ensure that access to justice is maintained, we are committed to providing alternative ways for users to access our services, including the use of other civic buildings for video links or hearings.

Scotland Office

West Coast Railway Line

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with Ministers in the Department for Transport on the closure of the West Coast Main Line between Glasgow and Carlisle.

David Mundell: I have remained in close contact with Ministers in both the Department for Transport and the Scottish Government since the closure of the West Coast main line between Glasgow and Carlisle. The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport, the hon Member for Devizes, visited the repair works at Lamington Viaduct with the Scottish Government Transport Minister on 8 January, and she and her officials continue to be in close contact with the Scottish Government and myself.

Cabinet Office

Electoral Register: Costs

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the total cost is of the transfer to Individual Electoral Registration; and what proportion of such costs have been borne by local government.

John Penrose: Holding answer received on 22 January 2016



In financial years 2013/14 and 2014/15 the Government has spent £72 million in the transition to Individual Electoral Registration (IER).Of this, over £49 million was shared between all EROs in Great Britain, ensuring the transition to IER was fully funded. This included over £10 million that was allocated to local authorities specifically to boost levels of voter registration.

Aerials

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has (a) guidelines and (b) a template contract for the leasing of government property to mobile telephone operators for the purposes of erecting masts.

Matthew Hancock: The Government Property Unit have developed guidelines and a standardised commercial agreement for Departments to make it easier for mobile telephone operatorsto erect masts on Government buildings. Government Property Unit also provided a London Rate Card for use by Departments and Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) that sets out indicative rents for a range of locations. The Government Property Unit have also issued further technical guidance for Departments' Estates.

Alcoholic Drinks and Drugs: Misuse

Luciana Berger: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Prime Minister's speech of 11 January 2016, on life chances, what period the £30 million social investment outcomes fund will cover; when that funding will become available; and to which bodies that funding will be made available.

Mr Rob Wilson: The Life Chances Fund is an £80m outcomes fund that will focus upon supporting the creation of locally developed social impact bonds tackling a range of social problems. In his speech, the Prime Minister announced that up to £30m of the Life Chances Fund would be made available to support drug and alcohol rehabilitation. The detailed criteria for the fund, including timescales, is being developed but it will provide a portion of outcome payments for locally commissioned social impact bonds where some of the benefits and savings generated fall to central government.